Bank of America Corp DE Trims Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 42.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 47,259 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 35,103 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.05% of RLI worth $7,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in RLI by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,608,243 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $759,577,000 after buying an additional 41,884 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in RLI by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,331,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $219,475,000 after buying an additional 19,695 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in RLI by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $168,907,000 after buying an additional 116,088 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in RLI by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,185 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $155,136,000 after buying an additional 7,609 shares during the period. Finally, Maren Capital LLC grew its position in RLI by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 700,603 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $115,480,000 after buying an additional 25,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on RLI. Compass Point cut shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RLI news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at $961,093.58. This trade represents a 10.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

RLI Price Performance

RLI traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $76.24. 16,998 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 365,667. The stock has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37 and a beta of 0.72. RLI Corp. has a twelve month low of $68.50 and a twelve month high of $91.15. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $75.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. RLI's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. RLI's payout ratio is 21.05%.

RLI Profile

RLI Corp., an insurance holding company, underwrites property and casualty insurance. Its Casualty segment provides commercial and personal coverage products; and general liability products, such as coverage for third-party liability of commercial insureds, including manufacturers, contractors, apartments, and mercantile.